this morning on "early today," show of defiance. libyan leader moammar gadhafi vows to fight his country's rebellion to the end. a frantic search for survivors after yesterday's powerful and deadly earthquake in new zealand. and fired up in greece. a general strike takes a nasty turn as riot police and protesters square off. captions paid for by nbc-universal television headline low and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific team zone.

i'm lynn berry. today, we begin with going down with a fight. after more than a week of upheaval in libya, a defiant moammar gadhafi has vowed to fight until his, quote, last drop of blood. yesterday qadhafi also called anti-government protesters rats who deserved the death penalty. although he still has some backing in tripoli, qadhafi continues to see support slipping away. one of his closest associates, his interior minister, announced he was defecting, encouraging the armed forces there to join the revolt. meanwhile, the american government has chartered a ferry for today to help evacuate u.s. citizens who want to leave to malta. and one of the hot spots of this up rising is eastern libya. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engle is there taking a first hand look at the still unfolding rebellion. >> reporter: at the border crossing itself, there is no one on the libyan side. we drove about 100 miles in eastern libya. we didn't see a single gadhafi loyalist.ç

we saw military barracks that had been abandoned or burned down or other military barracks that are still occupied. we didn't just see soldiers who were sitting out this conflict, but we saw the troops handing out weapons. the military bases have been completely emptied. they're now taking all the weapons including heavy machine guns, rocket launchers, and they say now that the people and the military are together. most of the fighting now seems to be centered in tripoli. it is fair to say that eastern libya is no longer under gadhafi's control. rebel leaders tell us they believe they control about 30% of libya, most of it in this northeast sector close to the egyptian border. there is still, however, heavy fighting in tripoli. richard engel, nbc news. elsewhere, rescuers are racing against the clock in new zealand scrambling to find

survivors. the death toll now stands at 75 with some 300 still missing. officials at christchurch have imposed a nighttime curfew, concerned that buildings could be toppled by aftershocks. the u.s. has sent a search and rescue team that includes staff from the los angeles county fire department. meanwhile, the battle to balance the nation's budget is intensifying. house republicans say democrats aren't serious about spending cuts. after reject aing short-term proposal from the senate's top democrat to keep the government running. nbc's tracie potts joins us with washington with more on that. tracie, good morning. >> lynn, good morning. rejected before it's really even on the table, that top democrat senator harry reid on the senate side has said that next week he will introduce a plan to extend current spending for 30 days, but republicans say no can do. they insist on budget cuts. in fact, the house under speaker john boehner proposed $60

billion in cuts, which some say could lead to thousands of government workers being furlowed, losing time off the job. democrats are not serious, some say, and they have got to cut spending. there will be no extension at the current rates which they say are 24% higher than when president obama took office. ç extent the ma took office. current rates. republicans say no can do. bottom line, it's gridlock here on capitol hill. lynn. tracie, thanks so much. now here's a look at other stories making news early today in america. in texas, a group of bystanders came together to save a man from a fiery death, helping him escape from a car that was engulfed in flames. the driver was trapped until the group picked up the car to move it, giving him a window to escape through. he's expected to survive. in arizona, a utility in arizona, a utility truck

driver was on his way to a service call and ran into an unexpected delay when he smashed his truck through a brick wall, coming to a stop inside a home. a mother and three children were inside. one of the children, a 4-year-old, and the truck driver were taken to the hospital for nonlife threatening injuries. finally, in washington, d.c., an impersonator of honest abe was surprised to find out his honest day's work was illegal. phil received a citation after reciting the famous 1863 speech, the geties berg -- gettysburg address at the lincoln memorial. he passed a basket around for donations which illustrate turns out is illegal vending. he plans to handle his fine in a presidential manner and pay for it. now for a look at your national and regional weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. bill, good morning. >> good morning, lynn. we're going to have a very interesting forecast in the pacific northwest. we have cold conditions. we have snow on the way. a late season winter storm.

already winter storm warnings for seattle and right down interstate 5 to medford with watches in effect for northern california and northern sections there in nevada. also winter storm warnings near spokane. temperatures, they're cold. 32 in medford. 34 in seattle. with temperatures like that, the roads are going to be okay, but we could see snow starting to accumulate on the grassy surfaces. now, the snow is also going to be moving in during the day today. especially tonight. cold temperatures will shift to the south. it's all responsible from all this cold air coming down from canada. already you notice numerous bands of snow out here. the mountains could pick up feet of snow, but this time what's different about it's so cold that even the lower elevations have the chance to pick up snow. we're talking seattle. possibility of around three to four inches of snow over the next 48 hours, and portland could pick up maybe as much as four to six inches of snow. make sure you keep it tuned your local nbc station and we'll update you on your specific forecast for your area and your elevations. that's a look at your wednesday forecast to be cool,

but no snow today. >> lynn, looks like our wintery forecast continues into thursday. update coming up. >> bill, thanks so much. also coming up, in a matter of days, wall street's roller coaster from happy days to doom and gloom. your early morning business headlines are straight ahead. plus, chris brown is now not only allowed to get near former girlfriend reana, but he can legally talk to her again. coming up, another first for the clippers blake griffin. life after çcarmelo begins for the nuggets. you're watching "early today." co

good morning, and welcome

back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning. rahm emanuel has won the race to be the next mayor of chicago. former white house chief of staff netted more than 55% of the vote yesterday, allowing him to avoid an april runoff. despite eight straight days of massive protests, wisconsin'ç republican governor is standing firm on a plan to cut collective bargaining rights for most state workers. in a speech last night, scott walker warned he would lay off 1500 public employees if his proposal is not passed by this friday. we are learning more about the tragic death of four americans killed by pirates off the coast of somalia early yesterday. according to u.s. officials, during negotiations, pirates suddenly launched a rocket propelled grenade at a nearby navy warship. special operations forces quickly boarded the victims' yacht but by the time they reached the hostages, they had been shot by their canters. running battle between greek riot police and an estimated

30,000 protesters have broken out today outside the greek parliament building. part of the strike against recent austerity measures. police tried to dodge firebombs and they were firing tear gas at scores of protesters. some on motorcycles. now here's an early look at one of your top health headlines on msnbc.com. government scientists said tuesday spending 50 minutes on a cell phone next to your ear changes brain cell activity in the part of the brain closest to the antenna. they were surprised the weak electromagnetic radiation did affect brain activity, but stress the findings do not necessarily show cell phones cause cancer or any other harm. for more information on this, check out the health page at msnbc.com. >> narrator: early today health is brought to you by vagisil cream. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,212 after

tumbling 178 points yesterday. the s&p dropped 27 points. the nasdaq sank 77. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei fell 85 points while in hong kong the hang seng lost 83. in the wake of wall street's worst day in months, many are wondering if this could be the start of a long predicted pullback. investors dumped stocks on unrest in oil rich libya sending wall street's so-called fear gauge to its highest one day jump since may. those fears sent oil prices soaring. airline and transportation stocks were hit hard while investors paid little attention to surprisingly strong consumer confidence. elsewhere, the latest figures show home prices hitting new lows many most major u.s. cities. we'll see how hp's after the bell earnings affect the dow today. shares plunge in late trade on weak sales of pcs and services.

earlier, wal-mart tumbled after reporting its seventh straight quarterly sales slump. macy's slipped after warning of price hikes. barnes & noble reported a drastic drop in income, suspending its dividend and offered no full year forecast. the nasdaq is reportedly weighing its options to team up on arrival bid for new york stock exchange parent county. citigroup is the latest bank accused of looking the other way by the trustee recovering funds for bernard madoff's victims. as apple readies its ipad2, its apps are under federal review. anti-trust inquiries are scrutinizing apple's new subscription-based service for publishers. even cookie monster isn't this serious about sweets. a florida woman was arrested after allegedly attacking her roommate for eating all of her girl scout thin mint cookies. i'm serious. coming up, the nuggets don't

miss carmelo. the heat did do no wrong and a same team squabble with a happy ending. plus, blake griffin goes home and makes more than a little noise. your early morning sports

good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, last night was technically a road game for nba rookie of the year favorite ç blake griffin, but it was still a homecoming. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. it was a weekend of firsts for the clippers blake griffin who played in his first all-star game, won hit first slam dunk contest. yesterday was home in oklahoma for his first game against the thunder. griffin didn't disappoint in front of family and friends. daron davis with the alley. there is griffin with the alley-oop. nifty 360 reverse lay-up. the kid is a human highlight reel. he finished with 28. unfortunately he's all the clippers have got. kevin durant, russell were held many check. jeff green picked up the slack. he had a time high 22 and the thunder won it, 102-88. heat and king. dwyane wade nursing a sore ankle. it looked okay here. tick tack toe to lebron james.

wade threw one up without looking and got it. everything going right for the heat. they won 117-97. life after carmelo began for the nuggets. who would do the scoring now that anthony is a knick? how about everybody? six of them scored in double digits. who needs melo? nuggets beat the grizzlies, 120-107. all eyes will be on the bucs and knicks game tonight because carmelo anthony is expected to make his morning debut at madison square garden. in turkey, teammates began to argue over who would take a free kick. they started to push and shove until the guy with the ball said enough is enough. i'm taking that shot. as luck would have it, his name is pele. with a name like that, how can he miss? naturally, he was pretty proud of himself, ripped off his shirt in excitement. as for his teammate, all he could do was think about what might have been. that's your early look at sports

on "early today." i'm fred roggin. well, the actress, the super model and the sports star, hear why this love triangle has no drama. your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. plus, we'll tell you about how one woman's love for pizza and her loyal delivery person helped save her life. you're watching "early today."

welcome back on this

wednesday morning. we're going to be talking feet of snow, and even the lower elevations are getting snow out of this one. be prepared from seattle to portland southward, even the cities in the valleys will be dealing with the white stuff over the next two days. the forecast calls for that rainshowers and the colder temperatures moving in today. that will continue into tomorrow. it's not like one big snowstorm moving in and out. it's going to be periods of snow on and off as those temperatures continue to fall, so if you are traveling in the northwest, be sure to give yourself a lot of extra team. well, if you are watching says on krnv news 4 see a collection of paintings from those who built our nation in their environment at the nevada mum of art. that's your pacific event of the day. thanks, bill. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment. when it comes to the tabloid cat fight stories, bridget moynahan says do not believe them. the actress who discovered she was pregnant with tom brady's child after they split tells

"more" magazine about the pain of those days. but as for now, she and brady's super model wife share raising that child saying, quote, my son is surrounded by love. chris brown doesn't have to stay away from rihanna any more after a judge downgraded his restraining order. brown pleaded guilty to beating his then the girlfriend after they left a pre-grammy awards ceremony in 2009. still, if brown tracks rihanna's movements, he would be found inç violation of probation. finally, tea party candidate christine o'donnell says she's been invited to on "dancing with the stars." o'donnell has been asking what supporters think about it on her facebook page. only many america you can go from senate candidate to "dancing with the stars." >> what are the odds that there's going to be one dance that she'll be dressed in a

witch costume and rip it off and have some sequinsy outfit on. >> i don't know about visual. let's move on. this comes to us from memphis, tennessee, where one pizza lover's pension for pepperoni not only satisfied her taste buds, it saved her life. susan, the delivery driver was worried when gene didn't call in her daily pepperoni pizza order for the first time in thee -- three years. she knew something was wrong. after three days, susan checked, got no answer and called police. they found gene had fallen and was unable to move. gene was rescued hanks to a delivery driver who was right on time. i'm lynn berry, and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

a pair of two-month-old babies in one zoo stand in at 7 1/2 feet tall. a mother gave birth to the first ever set of twin giraffes in china. far from camera shy, the pair are entertaining tourists and now walking with ease. although they don't have names yet, the zoo is allowing visitors to offer suggestions before their names are announced in april. they take hockey seriously in canada, very seriously. about 40 skaters set out for a world record, the longest hockey game. the game lasted for 241 hours with players taking only a few breaks. they endured stitches, frostbite, fluctuating temperatures. want just for a record, but for

a good cause. they raised ç$870,000 for charity. zookeepers in japan are earning their stripes when it comes to zoo safety, literally. to prepare for the worst case scenario, a zoo official dresses up like a tiger and mimics an escape. the drill is meant to practice response methods. though unrealistic, trainers take the test very seriously. it takes about an hour to secure the zookeeper turned tiger. i don't know, bill, i can't help but think there has to be a better way. >> maybe you could do it for real. get everyone out of the zoo. >> i would -- >> maybe not recommended. >> i probably wouldn't recommend that. maybe we'll stick to the giant outfit. >> mascot. >> yeah, no kidding. time now for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc. everyone will be watching as lindsay lohan heads to court again facing charges that she allegedly stole a $2,500 necklace. showing up to the courthouse two

weeks ago in a tight thigh-high white dress, lohan pled not guilty. it is the anniversary of the famous raising of the american flag by u.s. troops at iwo jima. in 1945, marines captured mt. sarabachi. they raiseded the stars and stripes. a pulitzer prize winning image captured by joe rosenthal. and happy birthday to peter fonda. today the owe easy rider" actor turns 71. 71. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. "today" takes you live to libya, where leader moammar gadhafi is accusing protesters of serving the devil. and meet the characters from the oscar nominated film "the fighter." now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early

today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.